Author: Kalina Laframboise

City in Brief
by Kalina Laframboise

→ Zero tolerance for corruption, collusion and construct
In her inaugural speech on Oct. 31, Premier Pauline Marois emphasized the need to end the misconduct plaguing the provincial government with an anti-corruption bill. The following day, the Parti Quebecois tabled a bill that will impose a rigorous screening process for companies vying for contracts. The bill aims to ensure the integrity of potential contractors and keep tabs on them throughout the construction process. Marois emphasized that the first few weeks of her time as Quebec’s premier would be devoted to ending corruption and condemning dishone

→ I’m never eating there again
Last week, the neurology clinic at the Jewish General Hospital closed due to an outbreak of the norovirus. The infection sprouted from the coffee shop, where hundreds of staff members, patients and visitors eat on a daily basis. Approximately 45 people from the hospital fell ill with flu-like symptoms such as diarrhea, cramps, and fever. After several staff members from the neurology clinic became sick, the clinic was closed for half of Thursday and all of Friday. The coffee shop will remain closed until the specific reason for the outbreak can be determined.

→ Let there be light
Most people working in the theatre don’t choose that path to strike it rich. Usually, it’s the exact opposite. Not for Robert Thomson though. According to CBC, Thomson has been named the recipient of the 2012 Elinore & Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, which is reportedly the largest theatre award of its kind in Canada. In its 12th year, the prize awarded the lucky lighting designer $75,000 and an additional $25,000 for two young designers he works with. Thomson is working on a production of Red at Montreal’s Segal Centre right now, which premieres Nov. 2

→ But Quebec is where the party’s at
New Democratic Party members were split on forming a provincial party for Quebec in a meeting in Montreal this Saturday. Those in favour of the formation argued that it would provide left leaning voters with an alternative to the sovereign parties while other members emphasized the need to focus on dominating the federal election in 2015. The priority for the federal party members is to oust the Conservative Party from power. Party Leader Thomas Mulcair announced the possible creation of a provincial wing but backtracked when the Parti Quebecois won a minority provincial government on Sept. 4 opting for resources to be spent on the federal initiatives instead.

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Nation in Brief
by Robin Della Corte

→ 18 and legal
The Saskatchewan Party is considering changing the province’s liquor laws by lowering the legal drinking age from 19 to 18. Members of the party voted in favour of the new drinking age at the party’s annual convention in Saskatoon last weekend. The main arguments rose from issues of fairness where provinces like Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec have a legal drinking age of 18. Saskatchewan Party MLA Donna Harpauer is not a fan of the idea because she believes teen drinking is a problem and because the majority of 18-year-olds are still in high school. This issue still needs to be voted on in the legislature to become law, CBC News reported

→ Cat city
Toronto’s animal shelters are overcrowded and more cats than ever are roaming the streets of the city due to a warm spring. An estimated 300,000 cats are on Toronto’s streets, Barbara Steinhoff of the Toronto Humane Society told CBC. In a year, there are between 100,00 and 300,000 cats without homes. This year it’s at its extreme high and although shelters are full, dozens of cats arrive each day. Two Toronto shelters are lowering adoption fees to help encourage giving cats a home.

→ Girl look at this body
Sam, a six-year-old lab in Windsor, Ont. shed half of his weight from sticking to a workout regime. Arriving at the Humane Society in January, Sam was overweight at a whopping 174 pounds. A lack of exercise and excessive eating led to Sam’s appearance. Following a vet’s conclusion that there was no medical reason behind his excessive weight gain, Sam was then sent to a foster home where he started an exercise program and ate special food. Sam is now 96 pounds and is active and is able to run and play with other dogs.

→ Halloween horror
She made a vow when she put them on and now, she’s made a vow to never take them off. A woman in Nova Scotia said she will never take off her wedding ring again. While Bonnie Pick-Melanson carved pumpkins with her son, she took off her rings so they wouldn’t get sticky. When they were done, she wrapped up all the newspapers and put them into the garbage, not realizing she was throwing out her rings as well. When she noticed her jewelry was missing, she called Valley Waste Resource Management Hotline and Dale Roberts, the curbside inspector, was able to contact the driver and stop him in the middle of his route. After many staff members were searching frantically for the rings valued at $15,000, they found it with the description Pick-Melanson gave.

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World in Brief
by Matthew Guité

→ Worst building ever
North Korea’s ‘Hotel of Doom’, the multi-storey hotel that dominates Pyonyang’s skyline, may finally open its doors next year after 25 years of construction. The hotel, which began construction in 1987 and slated for completion in 1989, has been a source of embarrassment for the regime following numerous problems with the building. In 2008 Esquire dubbed it “hideously ugly, even by communist standards.” Despite original plans for more than 3,000 hotel rooms and three revolving restaurants, the hotel is now expected to open for about 150 rooms, all of them on the top floor of the building. The group which will be managing the hotel has also stated it expects to house shops and restaurants on the lower levels.

→ Pin-up coffins
A Polish coffin maker has stirred up controversy by putting together a pin-up calendar to help sell more coffins. The calendar features topless models in and around coffins, with one shot featuring a model lounging in a coffin and another with a model pulling out a dead man’s heart. The calendar is intended to highlight “the beauty of Polish girls and the beauty of our coffins” according to Zbigniew Lindner, the owner of the business, who also said that the calendar was his son’s idea. “We wanted to show that a coffin isn’t a religious symbol. Its a product,” he told Reuters. “Why are people afraid of coffins and not of business suits, cosmetics or jewelry?”

→ Where’s the humour in that?
A pair of newspaper reporters are facing criminal charges in Kyrgyzstan after they kidnapped and threatened to kill a popular television presenter as part of a practical joke. They kidnapped Nazira Aytbekova at gunpoint and drove her out to a wasteland where they forced her to strip to her underwear. According to BBC, Aytbekova was ordered to sing and refused. The men then told her they were going to kill her, and told her to say her last words. They used a mobile phone to record the ordeal before finally revealing themselves as journalists. Aytbekova has described herself as being “shaken and humiliated” by the incident. Both journalists have apologized for their actions and have been fired.

→ The price to pay for not paying
A court in Illinois sentenced a man to pay a $1.5-million fine for pirating and torrenting 10 gay porn films, the largest ever fine for such a crime. Kywan Fisher, the man accused of sharing the films, did not defend himself in court, which is believed to be the reason for the steep fine. The studio Flava Works also pursued 14 others for file sharing but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. During the trial the lawyer for Flava Works explained that each copy of their movies that is purchased has a secret digital code embedded in it, and that the code in the torrented films all match the codes of the copies that Fisher purchased on their website. The films were downloaded from torrent sites 3,449 times and the damages awarded to Flava Works are for $150,000 for each film that Fisher shared.

City in Brief
by Kalina Laframboise

→ Watch out, white collar criminals
Premier Pauline Marois will address corruption when the Quebec National Assembly opens a new session this Wednesday. As one of its top priorities, the provincial government plans to close loopholes in Bill 35 following the revelations of corruption and collusion with the construction industry during the ongoing Charbonneau Commission. A new bill could be presented as early as this week, in order to fight corruption and force contractors to be more honest by implementing stricter rules and mechanisms in order to win a contract from municipal authorities.

→ Time to invest in a train pass
Commuters, prepare for more traffic headaches. The Honoré-Mercier bridge, which connects Châteauguay and the Island of Montreal, will undergo more construction for an undetermined amount of time. The Gazette reported that while work continues on the federally owned side of the bridge and is slated for completion in 2014, the provincial side expects an additional five years of work and has no target date for completion. Construction started in 2008 to fix the decrepit bridge that is used by 80,000 commuters daily. Repeated lane closures often snarl traffic on the bridge, extending to the west and downtown.

→ …Or not
Public transit users will see their monthly passes rise from $75.50 to $77.75 in January 2012. The Societé de Transport de Montréal will increase the costs of a three-day pass to $18 from $16, and offer a new option for a weekend unlimited pass for $12 that will cover commuters from Friday evening until Monday morning. The express bus to Montreal’s Pierre-Elliot Trudeau airport will cost nine dollars as will the unlimited day pass. The STM has steadily increased monthly rates since 2002, when a pass was $50.

→ Say goodbye to your employee discount
Pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced it will cut 300 jobs nationwide, but mostly in Montreal. The company’s headquarters, located west of Montreal in Kirkland, will see a large number of employees dismissed due to restructuring process. The layoffs account for nearly 11 per cent of the company’s total number of employees. Pfizer has 2,700 employees in Canada and approximately 1,800 in Quebec. The company recently underwent a multimillion dollar renovation, with a $2.7-million contribution from the provincial government.

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Nation in Brief
by Robin Della Corte

→ Losers in Canada
After its fourth draw, no one has claimed the winning ticket for the $50-million Lotto Max jackpot in Canada. “Fifty MaxMillions prizes of $1-million each were up for grabs in Friday night’s draw, and there are winning tickets for 24 of them,” the Canadian Press reported. There were nine winning tickets sold in western Canada, six in Ontario, four in Quebec, and one in Atlantic Canada. The next jackpot for Lotto Max on Nov. 2 will remain at $50 million and, again, there will be 50 MaxMillions prizes for the taking.

→ Bar refuses to serve black customers
A group of individuals claim they were refused entrance at a bar in Gatineau, QC because they were black. According to a video posted online, the bouncer at Le Fou du Roi can be heard telling the group that black people who were not regulars could not be admitted inside. Brigit Vanhoutte, co-owner of the bar, apologized for the incident and told CBC that the bouncer has been suspended due to the situation that occurred and that the bar does not ban black customers from the premises.

→ I’m stealin’ it
Investigators in Moncton, N.B. said a man walked into a McDonald’s at around 3 a.m. last Saturday morning claiming he had a weapon and demanded money. Eyewitnesses claim no weapon was seen, but saw the accused leaving with food and an unknown amount of money. Police reported that the description of the suspect was vague and confirmed no one was hurt at the scene of the robbery.

→ Punch drunk love
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were called to the Halifax Stanfield International Airport last Friday night after a passenger punched a flight attendant. Police reported that a 24-year-old male passenger became aggressive during the plane’s descent. According to Sgt. Mike Lidstone, several passengers stepped in and subdued the individual until police were able to detain him allowing the plane to land without further incident. The accused will undergo a psychiatric assessment.

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World in Brief
by Matthew Guité

→ A different kind of Woodstock
A New Zealand woman has admitted to feeding her three-month-old baby cannabis through her breast milk. The mother, 29, plead guilty to giving a controlled substance to an individual under the age of 18. She was sentenced to six months supervision, and her partner was also sentenced for crimes related to the same police raid. The Whanganui District Court said her actions amounted to child abuse. “People often believe drug-related activities are victimless,” Acting Senior Sergeant Andrew McDonald said, “But it affects the people around them.”

→ Can I have some more, sir?
Undergraduate students of Magdalen College, a member of the Oxford University group, are boycotting their dining hall’s services over new plans that would see students paying more than £150, or $241, annually to eat there. Students would pay the fee to use the canteen and would be required to buy a food card for another £150 which, if not spent by the end of the year, would not be refunded. Students have set up food kitchens and organized home cooking sessions to help feed other students.

→ To serve and protect?
A New York city police officer has been charged with conspiring to kidnap, cook and eat women. Gilberto Valle III kept the names, locations and personal information of women he had been surveilling on his computer including pictures as well as the locations and personal details of some of them. The accused officer had begun surveillance of the homes and places of employment of some of the women, and compiled a document titled “Abduction and Cooking: A Blueprint”. In an online conversation, reported by Reuters, with an unknown conspirator, Valle described how he was “thinking of tying [his victim’s] body onto some kind of apparatus … cook her over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible.” The maximum sentence could be life in prison.

→ Killer lit
An employee at the Porter County Public Library in Valparaiso, IL, opened a book to find an interesting story inside. The book, Outbridge Reach by Robert Stone, was hollowed out and a handgun was tucked neatly away inside. Valparaiso police said the old weapon was a gold, A.S.M. brand black powder gun with a wooden handle . As the the library receives several donations, employees were unable to identify who gave the handgun and book. However, police said the gun wasn’t reported as stolen.

City in Brief
by Kalina Laframboise

→ Ici, on parle en français
In a controversial move, the Parti Québécois aims to cut back English classes in elementary schools and provide a more developed curriculum on the province’s history, with a special focus on sovereignty. Education Minister Marie Malavoy wants to eliminate mandatory English courses for grades one and two, earning backlash from the opposition for trying to politicize the education system in Quebec. Malavoy argued that secondary students need a greater understanding of Quebec nationalism. Furthermore, the PQ government plans to delay intensive English courses in grade six implemented by the former Charest government.

→ What the hell was that?
A small earthquake hit the Montreal region just after midnight Wednesday, forcing residents awake and a mass influx of calls to local police. The tremor lasted a few seconds and while no damage was reported, a few sleepy civilians bolted from their dwellings. The earthquake was measured at 4.5 magnitude on the Richter scale and could even be felt as far as Ottawa. Surprisingly, no damage was done to Montreal’s crumbling infrastructures such as the Champlain Bridge, the Turcot Interchange and the Jacques Cartier Bridge according to The Gazette. No injuries were reported.

→ A different kind of protest
Approximately 80 people marched in support of privatized daycare following the announcement of additional funding promised by the Parti Québécois government to the public daycare system. Protesters said they wanted more funding for private childcare instead of the plan to open more public daycare centres. Premier Pauline Marois promised to provide 15,000 extra spots in the public system. Those in attendance, including parents and private daycare owners, said that the provincial government should help them fill space. The plan is expected to cost the PQ $177,000,000.

→ Mental health awareness
Thousands gathered at the Walk for Mental Health to raise awareness, funding for health services, and eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness. Supporters gathered at Phillips Square at 11 a.m. Sunday, to kick off the fourth annual event before heading west. The honorary president of the walk, Margaret Trudeau, the wife of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, encouraged those in attendance to seek help if they, or someone they knew, were battling mental illness. Trudeau suffered a long and widely publicized bout of depression. It’s estimated that 20 per cent of Canadians are afflicted with mental illness.

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Nation in Brief
by Kalina Laframboise

→ What’s in a name?
Ontario community colleges are hoping to rebrand three-year diplomas as degrees and create new three-year programs in order to attract more international students and provide more credibility for college graduates. The call for the name change was proposed by Linda Franklin, president of Colleges Ontario, in response to Ontario’s discussion paper to potential provincial reforms to the post-secondary education system. Certain four-year programs completed at the college level are currently called degrees while two and three-year programs remain diplomas.

→ Make a decision already
XL Foods, Canada’s second largest meat processing plant, temporarily laid off 2,000 employees Saturday only to recall 800 the next day so that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency can continue its review. The largest beef recall in Canada has led to an estimated 15 cases of E.coli after approximately 1,800 products were recalled. The Alberta plant’s license was immediately suspended on Sept. 27 after several Canadians reported being ill from the tainted beef. CFIA announced that the plant could be fully functional in the upcoming week and shipping meat across North America in the next 10 days.

→ Don’t get any ideas, Mom
In a weird social experiment, a Calgary mom abandoned her household duties for six days to teach her children a lesson. Jessica Stilwell let the dishes pile up and the laundry go unwashed until her messy daughters accepted responsibility for their actions and apologized for being disorderly. The parenting experiment was documented on Stilwell’s blog, garnering national and international attention and kudos, in an effort to have her children clean up after themselves. Stilwell and her husband helped their daughters wash and scrub the house after they apologized for being messy.

→ Baiting the opposition
Alice Wong, a Conservative Party member of parliament, is facing scrutiny after throwing her support behind serving shark fin soup in Richmond, B.C.. Activists consider shark fin soup as an act of animal cruelty and a threat to the world’s shark population. They were upset following Wong’s decision to back restaurant owner David Chung for serving the delicacy. In a press conference with Asian media, Wong vowed to fight the ban of shark fin and went on to eat some of soup. Numerous cities in Vancouver have already banned the delicacy.
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World in Brief
by Kalina Laframboise

→ A bad judgment call
Following a national outbreak of meningitis, Florida Governor Rick Scott inadvertently provided the phone number for a sex hotline instead of the correct number for information on the disease. During a cabinet meeting last week, Scott announced the toll-free number that was later revealed to be the wrong number by a concerned caller. A woman’s voice on a message recording thanked callers for their thoughtfulness on her anniversary. The mix up led to several confused civilians reaching very different services. The phone number was quickly corrected.

→ I hope that squirrel was worth it
A Michigan resident allegedly using a propane torch to cook a squirrel on his balcony in Holland Township may be responsible for burning down eight units of an apartment complex. The individual was supposedly trying to remove the fur on the deck of his third-floor apartment when the entire deck caught fire. Flames spread to the roof, destroying eight units and damaging 24 additional units at the Clearview Apartments with smoke and water damage. Although the identity of the man remains unknown, the fire department believes he was preparing to eat the squirrel.

→ Good things come in small packages
A contest in Denmark is calling for men with small appendages to send their photos for an online competition to win a free iPhone. Men are asked to submit a photo of their erect penis with measuring tape beside it. The contest has already gathered six applicants and is slated to finish at the end of January 2013. The online contest is sponsored by erotica website Singlesex.dk in an effort to prove that men with small penises have nothing to be ashamed of. Members of the female sex will determine the winners and judge the photos. The second and third place winners will take home an iPad.

→ The trouble with quadrillions
A phone company issued a $15-quadrillion phone bill to a woman in the Bordeaux region of France following the cancellation of her contract in late September. Solenne San Jose was informed that what she owed would be automatically withdrawn from her account. Bouygues Telecom service representatives told San Jose there was nothing they could do, and one agent even told her to pay the amount in million-dollar installments. San Jose spent several hours on the phone trying to convince the representatives that there must be an error before her actual bill revealed that she owed $149.